Forcible entry tools are often used for performing various cutting and prying operations at fires, wrecks, etc. and are well documented in prior art such as the forcible entry tool of U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,316 which is carried by a single person and is designed to be a multi-purpose tool. Also a number of tools exist which teach combination tools designed to open vehicle doors such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,201,368 and 3,710,407 which again are designed to be used by one person.
Nail pullers, box openers and seal pullers, etc., also teach the use of a sliding member to "hammer" on a contact member to loosen or knock loose some elements, however, these tools are generally designed for some specific task and are used as a tool by one person.
The problems encountered by the use of such tools are numerous when trying to use such tools under a high stress situation where time is of the essence and immediate entry is required as occurs many times, especially in the law enforcement arena.
The present invention addresses these and other problems encountered by law-enforcement personnel which the prior art has not addressed in a satisfactory manner.
With the continuing escalation of gangs/drugs and the heavy incidence of armed suspects involved in the service of high risk warrants, hostage rescue, barricaded gunman with hardened and fortified entry points etc., many varied types of entry means have been used such as explosives, powered metal cutting tools, or sophisticated "burning" devices, however, each of these devises has it's own inherent problems such as noise, time-delays, fire hazard, etc. and are dangerous to the users and are expensive.
This type of situation has created a need for a simple, no-nonsense, reliable, durable, breaching device which can breach heavily fortified doors or the like in a matter of seconds which will afford the users such as SWAT teams and other law enforcement agencies, dependability, mobility and speed in the first critical seconds where the danger potential is extreme and suspect neutralization is critical.
Some of these problem have been addressed by patent application No. 653,167 of the present co-inventors which deals more particularly with doors that swing outwardly, while the present invention deals primarily with doors that swing inwardly.
In the past it has been common practice for law enforcement personnel to use a simple, hand held ram fabricated from a heavy bar or pipe with handles welded on and of a pre-determined weight and of a size and weight that one person could pick up and use, however, this results in each person having to use a different ram that is of a satisfactory weight and size that the person can handle. Larger, stronger personnel can handle larger rams, etc., while smaller persons can only handle rams of a lessor weight and size. Many entry points are in unusual places such as up several flights of stairs, in narrow hallways, around corners or obstruction or the like, and the ram must be carried by the personnel involved in a manner which is manageable and effective. This situation requires a number of different rams of different weights and sizes to be inventoried and made available and many times the most desirable weight and size is not available.
Again, this type of situation has created a need for a ram that is adjustable in weight which can be pre-set to a weight compatible to the personnel in question and is easily handled and hand friendly.